Chapter 11: Lazy Happiness
(So… Good Talk)
"Hey, you. Taking a break?" Logan answered his phone with a smile.
"Not yet, I still have four hours to study," Rory responded. "And then I have time for a break."
"Ah… any chances that you'll want someone with you to make sure that you're really going to take a break?" Logan asked hopefully.
"Actually, that's why I called. You wouldn't happen to be free this evening, would you?" Rory asked, quite to Logan's surprise.
"The whole evening?" Logan repeated with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, yeah… I'm done with most of my studying and I thought, perhaps, we could take another try at that date we never seem to manage to have," Rory suggested.
Logan's smile widened. "Now that sounds like a plan. I'll come get you at eight o'clock, is that okay with you?"
"Perfect," Ace answered and he could hear the smile in her voice. "And what should I wear to meet the evening's program?"
"Just dress nicely," Logan told her vaguely. "See you later, Ace," he then told her and had hung up before she could inquire further on what to wear for their date. It was useless anyway. She looked beautiful, regardless of what she was wearing.
And even more beautiful without any clothes on, Logan thought with a rush of anticipation for the night.
When he turned, he saw Colin and Finn watching him with interest. He hoped his grin wasn't too stupefied. "You'll have to go to Sean's without me," he told them and sat down on their couch, taking a chip.
"Another date with Reporter Girl?" Finn wanted to know with a raised eyebrow.
Logan shrugged. "It's actually our first date, we never made it to a real one so far."
"Well, that depends on how you look at it," Colin protested. "We didn't see you again before Monday morning last weekend. And that evening, you vanished quite early as well."
"And on Tuesday you set us up for lunch," Finn added.
"Same on Thursday. And on Wednesday you canceled the spring trip meeting with the boys," Colin continued.
"To go 'study' with your Ace," Finn nodded with a dirty grin. "And now you're canceling yet another spring break meeting."
Logan shrugged again. "So what?" he asked, looking questioningly at his friends.
"Nothing…" Colin said. "You just spent quite some time with Rory this week."
Finn grabbed himself some chips as well. "Time you're unusually quiet about. And Lanny said he hardly sees you anymore. Especially in the morning. As if you haven't spent any nights at your room." He shot Logan a hooded look. "We're just wondering what's up with you?" he said casually.
With a frown, Logan looked from one to the other. "You got a problem with me going out with Rory?" he asked defensively.
"Now don't be ridiculous," Colin said, rolling his eyes. "We just noticed that you spend an awfully lot time with her."
"Yeah. As if you're together, you know. We're just wondering if you two…" Finn started to ask.
Still frowning, Logan shook his head. "We're just enjoying the little time we have before the exams," he made clear. "That's all."
"You sure about that?" Finn asked.
No. But Colin and Finn didn't need to know that. Did they? Truth was that Logan wasn't sure what was going on with him and Ace. Or rather with him. It was true that he had spent as much free time with Rory as she had allowed. This was surprisingly a lot of time for her, claiming to barricade herself in her room with her books. Not that he complained. He was rather happy about that. And as long as he was with her, he never thought about it, just enjoyed being with her. But that in itself was what confused him. He never spent so much time with any other girl he was sleeping with. Sure, Ace was different. She was a friend. She was smart, witty. And though she didn't have much experience, she was definitely excelling in the physical part as well. So wasn't it normal that he spent more time with her than he did with the bimbos he usually went out with? Perhaps. But that didn't explain this indescribable need he was feeling to be with her, to spend the night with her. Not just having an enjoyable time with her, but sleeping with her, spending the whole night with her. Sometimes even only cuddling her.
And then, there was the sex in itself.
"Logan?"
Startled, he looked up and realized that he had totally spaced out on his friends. He stared at his hands for a moment and spread them, hesitating. Finally, he looked up. "Have you ever… I mean… did it ever feel… different for you?" he asked slowly, quietly.
"Different?" Colin repeated with a frown. "You mean…?"
Logan nodded.
"Different how?" Finn wanted to know.
Logan glanced at him, then looked away and shrugged. "I dunno… just… different."
He really had no words for it. It just was different from anything he had felt during sex before. It was more… intense. Held more sensations. Felt better. So much better. It was as if everything was enhanced, a notch superior than anything he had experienced so far. In part, it was almost scary. Still… he wouldn't want it any other way. Didn't mean though that it didn't puzzle the hell out of him.
"In a good way different or in a bad way?" Finn inquired further.
For a moment, Logan thought about his answer. Instinctively, he'd say yes, definitely in a good way. But was it, really? He was fast growing addicted to her, never getting enough of her, his Ace. And something deep down warned him, that it was dangerous, that she meant too much already to him, way too much. Still…
"Good," he answered slowly and nodded. "Definitely good."
Instead of answering immediately, Finn and Colin exchanged a look. One of those looks. The kind of looks they always exchanged since he had met Rory. The looks he sure as hell grew tired of.
"Perhaps it's because Rory is different," Colin finally suggested.
Logan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, thanks, would never have figured that one out by myself," he replied sarcastically.
Another look between Colin and Finn. Logan grinded his teeth.
"Or… it's different, better, because Rory's more important to you than any other girl before," Finn suggested, his green eyes boring into Logan's.
Logan frowned, but didn't answer. It felt true to him, but… it also sounded… dangerous.
Colin sighed and shook his head. "Because, perhaps, only perhaps, you fell in love with her? And what you do is not having sex with her… but making love?" he asked blatantly.
Logan's head shot up to stare indignantly at Colin. Incredulous, he shook his head and got up. "You're crazy," he declared and before Colin could defend himself, Logan stormed out, shaking his head at his stupidity.
What had he been thinking to even start with that topic with Finn and Colin? He really should know better than to entrust those idiots with something like that! What did they know after all? Nothing!
Love? Ha!
Okay, so yes, something was different with his Ace. But love? Please! Probably Finn was right: His Ace simply meant more to him than any other girl because she was first and foremost a friend and not a bed bunny. He knew her better and because of that, the sex with her was better and he enjoyed spending some additional time with Rory. He surely wasn't so stupid to fall in love, even when it was with such a great, amazing girl like his Ace. A high society girl even. Love wasn't in his agenda for the next few years. Hell, actually, love wasn't even included in any of his plans for the future. Huntzberger men weren't allowed to love, didn't have the chance to love.
Especially not a girl with ambitions for a career of her own. A girl who wasn't interested in being content as a trophy wife, to always live in his shadow. A girl who wasn't interested in his money, his family, the power that came with his name, no, a girl who actually almost hated all of that.
Logan stopped and stared blindly ahead.
Fuck, what the hell was he thinking?
"So… that's how you'd have planned our first date."
Still exhausted from their latest activity, Logan managed to lift his head to gaze down at Rory, barely, and gave a nod. "Hmm…" he murmured. Talking whole sentences wasn't yet an option.
"Nice…" she commented. "Impressive, classy, but still thoughtful." She nodded. "And it might have even let you have what you ultimately wanted."
Okay, exhausted or not, but really… Logan lifted an eyebrow. "It might have?" he repeated, incredulous.
Ace grinned. "Yeah, might have. Though… I think the chances are slightly against you."
When he just continued to stare at her, she laughed quietly and raised her hand to ruffle his hair. Something he usually hated. Somehow, he didn't mind Rory doing it that much. It felt kind of nice.
"I'll let you know that I'm not the kind of girl easily impressed by money," she informed him.
"Aren't you?" Logan played along. It wasn't as if he didn't know that already.
"Hmm…" she answered with a nod while running a finger down his chest – as far as she could as they still were lying pressed together, with her under him. "Showing up with a limo and driver in tow is a bit much. Though it had been nice to see Frank again."
As much he had guessed, after all, Rory had outright refused to let Frank or Logan pull up the window separating the back of the limo from the driver and had talked more with Frank than with Logan on the way to the restaurant.
"To pick out the Italian place where we had our first meal together, despite not being the fancy place you usually go to, was a big hit though." She gave him a feather-light kiss. "Many, many plus points, especially the way you treated the wait staff, like you're a guest at a friend's place, not a paying customer." Another kiss, deeper this time, and Logan felt some of his energy rush back to certain parts of his body.
When she drew back, he moaned a protest, but she didn't listen and instead gently slapped his head. "Then of course, you had to ruin it with your pulling out the big guns for the entertainment part of the evening." Ace shook her head. "It's pretty bragging to tell a girl to pick out between a concert in New York, a play in the theater and a movie première, all in New York for which you had tickets." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Bragging is a major turn off, Huntzberger. Do you really get far with such things?" she wanted to know.
This time it was Logan who gave a light kiss, before he shrugged and grinned lopsidedly at her. "I haven't had complaints so far," he told her confidently. Though to be honest, he usually didn't go to all that trouble. And most other girls he had gone out with would just have loved the limousine and the options.
"Jeez, how can they be so cheap?" Ace asked with an eyeroll.
"No idea," Logan murmured and lifted himself a little so he had a better angle to give her a long, deep kiss. He really had other things in mind than to talk about some bimbo girls.
"But in the end we landed in the black and white cinema, watching a film you must have seen at least a dozen times, judging from all the comments you've made," he said quietly once their lips parted again.
Her eyes were shining with amusement, when she gave a lazy nod. "I'd say it's been at least three dozens times. But what can I say… you never grow tired watching and mocking 'The Mummy', neither the old one, nor the new one. Though I prefer the old one."
"And I got what I wanted, in the end," Logan added with not just a little smug.
The smugness earned him a slap on his behind. Not that he minded, not at all, for that it was too sexy… too dirty his Ace would probably say.
"Yeah, but just because you went along with my plan and gave those tickets to other people, even having Frank drive those strangers to New York," she corrected. "And because this time, it wasn't the first time," she added and wriggled a little under him in not at all an innocent way, and that made Logan gasp as a rush of heat surged through his body.
And the kiss she gave him… it left him breathless and hungry for more. But before he could dive in for more, she halted him by the sudden seriousness in her eyes. "I'm glad it happened the way it had," she whispered.
Logan shook his head and gently brushed a wisp of hair out of her face. "You're a strange girl, Ace," he said with a smile.
For a moment it seemed as if she wasn't quite sure to glare or laugh, but in the end, Ace grinned. "I think I'll take that as a compliment."
"It is," Logan confirmed and really, it was. He preferred the constant surprises she threw at him to the predictability of other girls. It may make life a lot more complicated – but sure as hell a whole lot more interesting. Besides, In Omnia Paratus.
"I mean, it was so cute, how you climbed through my window," Ace then added.
Logan stopped on his way kissing down her neck and looked up to stare at her, unbelieving. "Cute?"
Ace nodded. "Very cute and adorable."
He scowled. "I don't do cute and adorable."
Her eyes glistened with mischief – and something else. "Sorry buddy, but it was major cute and adorable, all right."
That little witch! "I'll show you cute and adorable," he promised with a growl, just before he descended on her with fervor. He'd be damned if she found what he was going to do to her still cute!
"Now tell me that had been cute," Logan demanded a long while later.
Rory opened an eye to look at him. Then she opened the other one – to give a perfect eyeroll. "Okay, Neanderthal, this wasn't cute in the slightest. Not a tiny bit cute at all. All very manly and powerful and dirty."
Her voice was heavy with sarcasm and mock. But she looked so cute that Logan decided to let it go. Though he'd be damned if he admitted that out loud. Shaking his head, he slipped deeper into his mattress, pulling Rory with him so they could lie more comfortably in his bed. As Lanny had already gone home for the spring break, finished with all of his midterms, they had profited from that fact and gone to his dorm for a change. It was nice to be already at home, but still… Logan couldn't quite explain it, but despite Paris being in the other room, not to mention occasionally Doyle, Logan preferred being in her room over his. Somehow it was a lot cozier and homey there, filled with her books and loads of music CDs and DVD's. Not to mention all the tons of stuff she had stuffed in the little space she had. And he couldn't help but wonder if Rory felt the same way. So far she had said nothing. On the other hand, this was her first night in his room.
His eyes gazed around, trying to see what she may see. He had no idea. Probably, she found it too expensive, too luxurious. Perhaps even too manly. He did know though that there were a few things he wasn't keen on her seeing. Foremost were the pictures of her he had on his laptop. Thankfully, the chances were slim of her seeing them. There were also the few things he had started to keep for his overnight guests. Or rather said, for the girls he brought to his room. A few toiletry items, a bathrobe, some things to put on for the way back should they not be able to find their clothes… or should they not be presentable anymore.
Nope, he definitely didn't want Ace to find those… they may not be dating exclusively, having agreed on keeping it casual… but every instinct he had told him to not let her see those things. Perhaps he should find a safer place for those things when she was staying over. At least until spring break, that was, if they even had time to spend a little time together until then. They were in the middle of midterms after all. Rory may have allowed herself a few breaks here and there, and now tonight's time off, but he knew that in the coming week he probably would be glad if she allowed him to have coffee with her, let alone to do something more. And to be honest, he himself had still quite a lot to do. Especially that Ethics paper that was due Friday and had had barely time to work on it so far, thanks to his father's stupid trip.
Still… he didn't like the thought of not seeing her as often as he was accustomed to now after this week, especially as spring break would mean for him to not being able to see her at all for a week. Unless…
His hand caressed her arm and gently nudged her. "Hey Ace?"
"Hmm?" she asked sleepily.
"Got any plans for spring break?" he asked.
"Mmhh. Going home. Get some job for the holidays," she answered as she snuggled closer into him.
Gently, Logan rubbed her back in an up and down motion. "Why don't you come with me?" he invited her.
Okay, girls weren't usually part of the plan on their spring break trips, at least not bringing girls along on the trip. But Finn and Colin surely wouldn't mind and Logan could get a separate cabin for Rory and him, he was sure. And the other guys… well, he guessed they just would have to deal with it. Yeah… that would be great if Ace just came along with him!
She opened her eyes to look at him, surprised. "With you?"
Eagerly, Logan nodded. "Yeah. The guys and I go to the Mount Southington Ski Area which is near Hartford. It will be fun."
She frowned. "I don't know how to ski."
Now why didn't that surprise him at all? "I can teach you," he told her confidently. "And you don't have to ski. There are plenty of other things to do. You could read at the open fire and party with us, once we're back. Or you could convince me to stay with you," he suggested with a meaningful glance.
She smiled, but he could already see the refusal in her eyes. "As tempting as that sounds, I'm sorry, but I can't," she indeed told him.
"Ace…"
But she shook her head. "Really, I can't. I need to find a job and earn some money as I'm nearly broke since I lost my job at the canteen. Besides, I'm sure it's fun, but it sounds more like a boy thing."
Frustrated, Logan thought about something to say to convince her to still come with him. But he could see that she wouldn't change her mind. Disappointed, he sighed and drew her a bit closer to him. "Okay. But you'll miss a blast," he told her grudgingly.
"I'm sure," she nodded. "And thanks for the invitation, that's nice of you and the boys. But I really can't, not this time."
Logan nodded. "It's okay. It was just an idea."
'Because I'll miss you so much,' he almost said but held back from saying it.
This was ridiculous. It was only a week after all. And there would be plenty of other girls.
But none of them would be his Ace.
Time flew by and already, the last day before spring break arrived. And as predicted he had hardly seen her the whole week. Actually, he hadn't seen Rory at all, only had spoken on the phone with her three times. And exchanged a few text messages. Thankfully, he had a lot of work to do himself plus several midterm tests. Still… he had missed her a lot and he wasn't quite sure what to think about that.
Then again, this was nothing new. Somehow, with his Ace, he seemed to be very unsure about a lot of things.
Yet, when he finally saw her again, placing an order at one of the coffee carts, joy engulfed him like he never felt before and it didn't bother him at all. He just quickened his steps to get to her as fast as possible.
But she dropped some coins just before he got to her and he couldn't help but smile at the face she made as she crouched down to pick them up again. So cute! Finally reaching her, he got down to help her pick up her coins as well.
"This would definitely qualify as a cute meet if we hadn't already met," he told her.
She looked up and there was the blush he loved so much. "Logan, hey. This is nice and embarrassing," she greeted him.
Logan nodded to the bushes nearby. "Are we going after the rollers? A couple of them are headed into the bushes."
Rory shook her head and stood up again, Logan following her. "No, I think I've supplied people with a sufficient amount of silly images of me for one day," she said reluctantly.
Logan thought differently, but he let it go and instead turned to the coffee guy. "Small coffee for me and put the lady's on my tab too," he ordered.
Of course, Rory hurried to protest. "No, Logan, you don't have to do that."
No, he didn't, but he wanted to. Besides, she had mentioned something about being broke and he had heard a part of her placing the order. Apparently, she hadn't exaggerated. Inwardly, he shook his head. What an irony. A Gilmore broke. It was ridiculous. But somehow he didn't think that Ace was quite the same opinion, so he simply cracked a joke. "Ace, I can't take a chance of you pulling out that purse again. Someone might get hurt," he said as he already handed the coffee cart guy the money for their coffee. He took the cups and handed one to Rory.
"Okay, well, thank you," she finally accepted but she still seemed a bit uncomfortable letting him pay for her coffee.
Another thing that was ridiculous. They have been going out and he sure as hell had enough money to afford a cup of coffee for his girl. Hell, she had spent more than a hundred bucks for books on his tab without blinking and now she was uncomfortable letting him pay for coffee? Strange, strange girl. He still liked her though – a lot.
"So… I stopped by the paper the other day to see you," he told her casually as they moved along.
"Really?" she asked, sounding surprised, but pleased.
Logan nodded. "And then I tried to sneak out when I realized you weren't there. But our omnipresent editor cornered me," he continued, making a face. He wasn't sure if it was his hanging around with Paris or if Logan's father had another chat with him, but damn if Doyle hadn't been very insistent on Logan doing more for their paper if Logan wanted to stay on the staff. So he had gotten an assignment for the first edition after the spring break. Yeah, yadayay. "Does Doyle ever leave that place," he wanted to know, a bit miffed.
"Unfortunately, yes, otherwise I would be denied the regular pleasure of seeing him in 'Property of Alcatraz' pajama pants," Ace replied and at that image, Logan shuddered a bit.
"Thanks for the image," he said sarcastically. Still, the remark reminded him of her room and of the hours he had spent there lately. Thinking of, it was high time to finally taste those luscious lips of her again! "Hey, come here," he said and pulled her with him to the corner, determined.
"What are you doing?" Ace managed to protest before he shut her up with a deep, hungry kiss.
"So that's what you're doing," Rory said softly once they parted.
But Logan was far from having enough. After all, a whole week had gone by since he had seen her, let alone kiss her. "What'd you think I was doing?" he murmured as he honed in for another kiss.
At first, he could feel her sink into their kiss, but then she pulled away to look around, worriedly. "People will see," she protested.
"I don't care if people see," he told her, honestly, as he tried to kiss her again.
But she avoided his lips. "A professor will see you, and he'll take advantage of the fact that you're distracted and pull you in, make you take a midterm," she worried and Logan was pretty sure that she was only half joking.
With a sigh, Logan relented, for the moment. "I'm done with them," he informed her.
Her eyes widened. "With your midterms?"
Logan nodded. "I already took the ones I couldn't get out of."
She frowned a little. "Then why are you here? You're going off skiing, aren't you?" she asked.
"I just have to drop off a paper for my Ethics class by eleven thirty and then I'm off," he explained.
Her frown deepened. "It's eleven twenty-five," she stated.
"So we're swimming in time," Logan unworriedly replied and pulled her against his body, preventing any other protest from her with a kiss.
This time, she melted more into it, or so he thought, until he felt her slipping her hand into his bag and sure enough, she was already breaking off their kiss to look down at his bag.
"What are you doing?" he asked, perplexed.
She was totally focused on searching his bag now. "I want to see your paper," she told him.
Okay, here he was, kissing her senselessly, or so he had thought, and she wanted to see his paper?!? "Your mind is a mysterious thing," he let her know, shaking his head, unbelieving.
Finally, she looked up to meet his eyes again. "Come on. I'm dying to know what your take on ethics is. For instance, are you for it or against it?" she inquired and Logan was pretty sure that she was honestly interested in his answer.
A very strange girl, indeed.
And she was so not getting her way this time. "No way. It's too dangerous," he told her.
"Dangerous?"
Logan nodded. "I actually worked on this thing. It goes from my hand to the professor's."
"Like I'm going to lose it!" Rory outrageously protested.
"I saw you with your coins," Logan teased her. "Plus, let's remember Hemingway."
That threw her off. "What about him?"
"Trusted that wife of his with the only copy he had of the novel he was working on. The silly woman lost it," Logan told her.
Immediately, she shook her head. "Not so. I know the story." Just like he had expected. That was something he loved about being with her. He could throw her any kind of word clue and almost always she had an outright answer ready for it. "Hemingway left it on a plane. His wife had nothing to do with it," she continued to correct him.
"That's not the way I heard it," Logan told her with a smile.
"Well, you heard it wrong," Rory insisted.
Stubborn, his Ace was, wasn't she?
Logan's smile intensified. "How much you want to bet?" he challenged her.
"All the money in my purse, plus a million dollars," she answered with a smile, leaning closer to him.
"Well, my spelling stinks. Take my word for it," he replied and pulled her closer, not able to withstand the temptation to kiss her again any longer. Probably their last kiss for quite a while, he suddenly realized and pressed her slim form even more against his body, deepening the kiss.
"You'll call me from the cabin?" Rory hopefully asked, once they parted again.
Was she kidding? She could bet he'd call. "Absolutely," he assured her, weighing if he could afford to kiss her again like he so badly wanted to. But that was the problem. Merely kissing her, as great as that was, would never satisfy him. And if he did kiss her again now, he was pretty sure he'd take her back to his dorm to just satisfy that hunger. Sadly though, he really needed to hand that paper in. Damn it. Reluctantly, he let her go and stepped away from her.
"Thanks for the coffee," she said.
"Anytime," Logan told her and looked back to her. "Better have that million bucks ready when I get back, and I don't accept coins!" he reminded her.
"No promises," she called back at him, just before he vanished around the corner. A last stolen glance back let him see her smiling, happy face.
Well, so was he.
"What's the matter with you, Huntzberger? You've got three girls dying for you to acknowledge them and you don't even spare them a glance!"
Annoyed, Logan looked up from the book he was reading and shrugged. "Not interested," he told Robert shortly.
"Oh, come on, look at Nadia for instance. She's great!" Robert said, unbelieving, pointing at a blond girl standing nearby and staring over.
Logan sighed. "Look, if you want her, why don't you go after her. Just leave me alone," he again tried to get rid of Robert.
But Robert narrowed his eyes. "So I guess it's true."
"What's true?" Logan asked with a frown.
"That you've fallen for that Gilmore girl," Robert said and shook his head. "Never thought you'd fall so soon. Then again, she does have a great body." He leered. "And they say that bookish girls like her can be quite a volcano. Say, is it true? Is she that great in bed? What am I talking, of course it's true, otherwise, why would you be so hung up on her to ignore such nice girls like Nadia over there."
Blind rage overtook Logan and with a snap, he closed his book and was rising out of his chair. No one talked like this about his Ace, let alone Robert the asshole.
At that moment, Colin appeared, slinging an arm around Robert. "Hey buddy, come on, got something to show you," he said and already, he dragged Robert away with him, away from Logan.
Not that that would have stopped Logan from teaching him to not talk about his girl like that. But Finn showed up out of the blue as well and firmly pushed Logan back onto his chair, plopping down onto the chair beside Logan. "Let it be, mate," he said mildly, pushing a drink into Logan's hand.
"Have you heard what he just said?!" Logan though asked, still furious.
Finn shrugged. "He's an asshole, nothing new there. You know him. He always tries to get at you, or me, for that matter. You give in, he wins and now that's something I really would hate to see… even if that would mean I'd get the pleasure of seeing you beat that snaky face bloody."
His blood was boiling, but Logan could see the point in Finn's argument there.
Fuck.
"Besides, you know, I'm not surprised that he's puzzled a bit by your behavior. A lot of people are." His green eyes bored into Logan's. "It's spring break, the big, great party time, yet all you do is mope around, not doing much more than skiing like a devil or burying your nose in a book." He shrugged. "No wonder people talk."
"I do not mope around," Logan protested and took a big swing of the drink Finn had brought him.
He really wasn't. But three days and already, Logan was bored out of his mind. The first day hadn't been so bad, he had drunk and partied with the guys but one could only party so much before it got boring.
Finn laughed. "Call it what you want, but you're sure not this year's party king," he stated good-naturedly, and then he quieted. "If you miss her that much, why don't you call her and invite her up here? There's enough space and booze for another hot girl after all."
Uncomfortable, Logan took another sip. He knew exactly whom Finn was talking about and in a way, it didn't feel right for him that his friend had so easily guessed the source of his boredom – but in another way, he liked it. Talk about confusing. He avoided Finn's eyes. "I already asked her. She can't come, needs to earn some money," he admitted.
"Did you?" Finn asked, but not sounding surprised at all.
"Yeah. Why? That a problem?" Logan asked defensively.
"What? No, not at all. Just find it interesting. You never before invited any of your girls along to any of our trips," Finn mentioned casually. Too casually.
Logan refused to say anything to that. Not that he knew what to say. After all, he was well aware of that fact himself.
"So she can't come. Too bad. It sure would have been great to have Reporter Girl here," Finn continued after a moment. Then he shrugged. "But who knows? Perhaps she has a bigger blast than we all together have. What she has told us about that town she comes from is really something."
Another pause in which Logan chose not to say anything.
"Hmm, maybe, it would be worth a shot to go check that place out, what do you think?" Finn asked, his gaze lying heavily on Logan.
Logan frowned. Go to her town? He didn't think so, no. That felt too much like commitment to Logan and as hung up he may be on his Ace, he wasn't ready to face her family and friends in what sure would look like a gesture that only a boyfriend would do. Nope, surely not. But…
Finn jumped up, pulling his shirt over his head. "You know what this party is missing? A little bit of nakedness! And whose body would be better to go naked than this Adonis body of mine?" he remarked, kicking off his shoes.
Alarmed, Logan's head shot up. "Uh, Finn, no!"
"Hush, hush, you're just jealous!" Finn waved away Logan's protest and opened the fly of his jeans.
"Finn!" Logan again tried to stop the Australian.
Finn's jeans fell and already, Finn pulled at the waistband of his boxers.
Rolling his eyes, Logan gave up and quickly stood up to leave the cabin. He really didn't need to see Finn naked – again. Outside, he took a deep breath of the cool, fresh air. It was beautiful here, no doubt about that. And the slopes were great. But… it definitely was also nothing new for Logan. Nothing he hadn't already experienced. He had skied on better slopes in France, Austria, Switzerland. He had been at other beautiful winter places. Had participated on bigger and better parties, spring breaks. And Logan loved to do something new.
So Rory needed to work. He had called her the other day and apparently, she had gotten herself a job in her town's bookstore. A dangerous combination in Logan's eyes, even if he did see the sense in it. But Rory had also mentioned that she'd be finished with her assigned work within a couple of days… if she didn't let herself get too much distracted by the books. So perhaps she would be okay to join him at least for some days.
But not here. Not just because he was fairly sure that she would refuse to come here again, claiming she couldn't afford it – and definitely didn't want Logan to pay for her, but also because Logan didn't want her here. There would be too many people, too many distractions and Logan didn't want any distractions. He wanted to be able to concentrate solely on his Ace. And yeah, he wanted her all for himself and certainly not exposed to the leery eyes of Robert or the talk of those bimbo girls like that Nadia. Of course there were many places he could think of, but all of those places would give her the same reason to refuse coming just like her coming here. Money. But where else could they meet and have time for each other without costing anything?
There weren't such places! Everything cost at least something…
Unless….
Brightening up, Logan quickly went over it mentally, cheering up with every check he could make on the pro list in his head.
Yeah, that could actually work. And it was perfect. It wouldn't cost anything, to either of them; he'd have her solely for his own and the best of all: it was something he definitely had never done before.
Grinning, he didn't hesitate any longer and quickly went back into the cabin, going over to his room to gather up his things.
"Finn's naked again," Colin said with a sigh, coming into the room he shared with Logan and Finn.
Logan nodded. "I've noticed. I tried to stop him but you know how he gets when he wants to streak."
Colin nodded and frowned. "What are you doing?" he wanted to know, watching as Logan stashed some of his shirts into his bag.
"What does it look like? I'm packing," Logan told him, looking around for his disc case. He'd need it, it was full with music discs Rory had included on the list of music he absolutely needed to have.
"Why?"
Ah, there it was! Quickly, Logan went over to get his disc case and glanced at Colin. "'cause I'm leaving," he pointed out the obvious.
Colin's frown deepened. "Why?" he asked again. "Look, if it's because of what Robert had said, I can talk with him, warn him to not talk like that about Rory, but really, you don't have…"
"What?" Logan briefly stopped what he was doing to stare at Colin, incredulous. Then he laughed. "Oh… no. I'm not leaving because of that idiot." His eyes darkened. "Though he better never again talk about Ace like that or your friend or not, I'm going to teach him a lesson."
Colin waved at Logan bag. "But then why…"
With a sigh, Logan met his friend's eyes. "I just have enough of being here. So I'll head back, see if Ace will join me for the next few days," he explained.
For a moment, Colin held his eyes. "You're going to meet Rory?" he repeated.
Logan nodded and zipped his bag close. "If she wants to." He grinned. "Though I'm betting I can convince her." After all, he has known her for over half a year and he has been going out with her for almost three weeks now. Yes, he could convince her.
"I'm sure you can," Colin said slowly.
In one swift move, Logan shouldered his bag. "I need to go or I'll miss the bus going down to town. Send my ski equipment after me, will you?" When Colin nodded, Logan grinned again and waved. "See you. Oh, and see to it that Finn doesn't leave the cabin. Remember Aspen."
With that last reminder, Logan was off – back on his way to his girl.
Logan had barely unpacked his things and was out of the door to go get some supplies when his cell phone rang a very particular tune. Perfect. With a smile, he answered it. "Hello?" He sat down on a nearby bench.
"We were both wrong," Ace's voice came over the phone, not bothering to lose time on pleasantries.
Just as he liked it. "About?" he wanted to know, going over the possibilities. And with his Ace, there were quite some possibilities.
"Hemingway's manuscripts were stolen in Hadley's suitcase at the Gare de Lyon," she informed him.
Ah, Hemingway. "Huh," he answered with a smile. Trust her to find out the truth about that.
"Yep. Just thought you should know," Rory said. "We're both dumb," she finished.
Logan smile grew. "Guess we found each other."
"Guess we did," Rory confirmed. "So… how's the outing in the woods going?"
"It was going fine until Finn decided to go through one of his naked phases," Logan told her, grabbing the opportunity to lead her to what he really wanted to talk about.
"Yikes," Ace said and he imagined her making a face.
"Yeah," Logan nodded. "Suddenly, the cabin seemed very small.
"I bet," she replied sarcastically and Logan could hear the amusement in her voice.
"Plus, it got boring, and there's too many people there I know, so I decided to cut my skiing trip short," Logan continued to lead her to the strike.
"Yeah?" Rory asked, surprised. "Where are you now?"
Taking a deep breath, Logan stood up. "Yale."
"What?" Rory exclaimed.
"Yep. Seems like I got the whole place to myself, too," Logan told her.
"I bet. Everybody's gone for spring break," Rory said knowingly.
Yep, that they were. And Logan wouldn't want it any other way. "You know, it's nice like this. Very quiet. Lots of privacy," he recited, giving her a few points for her pro and con list before he delivered his strike. "It's too bad you're not here."
There was a small pause on the other end of the line which made Logan's heart beat fast. "And why is that?" she then asked.
"I just think you'd like it," Logan told her. He would make sure of that.
"Well, take me a picture," she flippantly told him but Logan could sense that she was already contemplating joining him.
Just a little more convincing, pushing. And he was a master at convincing. "You know, if, by chance, you decided to cut your spring break short, you could be here with me to see it yourself."
"Oh, really?"
She smiled, he was sure of that. He could hear it. And he was pretty sure he had won. "Just a suggestion, Ace," he said with a shrug, but smiling himself.
"Well, I'll think about it," she told him and before he could say anything else, she ended the call.
Slowly, Logan shut his phone close, thoughtful. Okay, that wasn't quite the answer he had hoped for, but then, it was better than an outright refusal like she had given him when he had invited her to the ski trip. And he was fairly sure that she'd come.
So with a nod, he put his cell phone away and continued his way to his car to go get those things he'd need for the coming days.
Most of all, he needed coffee. Lots and lots of coffee, seeing as the cafeteria and the carts were closed. And food. He planned to take her out a few times but he had seen his Ace eat. He definitely would need food. And last but not least, condoms. Because he planned to ravish her as often and at as many times as he could and his stash needed restocking or he wouldn't be able to do that.
He grinned. Oh, he thought, one of those big family packs should do it for the time being.
By nighttime, Logan was seriously worrying that he had purchased all those supplies for nothing. He hadn't heard back from Rory yet and slowly, he was starting to believe that she wouldn't come after all.
So when his phone rang with its special tune he lunged for it quite desperately.
"So?" he asked hopefully.
"Open your door," Ace simply said.
"Why? You wouldn't happen to be standing in front of it, would you?" he wanted to know while walking over to his door.
"Well, I guess you'll just have to see and find out, won't you?" she replied, unfazed.
He guessed he did. Not waiting any longer, Logan opened his door with a big smile – and smiled to nothing. No Rory.
Over the phone, he could hear Rory laughing.
"Ha, ha, very funny," Logan said with a frown.
"Yeah, thanks, I think so too," Rory agreed, still chuckling. "Do you really think I'm so predictable?" she asked dryly. "Boy, mister, you still got a lot to learn."
"Well, that's just what I planned to do in the next few days but guess what, my study object is still missing," Logan told her.
"Too bad," Rory replied and that was that.
Logan loved to play around with her – but right now he just wanted to be with her, not merely talk with her. "Where are you?" he wanted to know, hopefully not in a whining way.
"In a physical or philosophical way?" she avoided giving a direct answer though.
"Ace," he warned her, then sighed. Okay, time to get out the big guns. "I miss you," he added softly.
For a moment, there was silence on the other end. "I miss you, too," she finally said as softly too. "Thankfully though, I finished the inventory of the books in record time, packed my things and raced over here to now stand right behind you so you can just turn around and finally kiss me."
Logan swiveled around and indeed, there his Ace stood, smiling, her eyes glistening and the next second, Logan had her scooped up in his arms, kissing her for all its worth.
Finally.
They hadn't made it to the bed on their first time. Nor on the second and not on the third time either. Eventually though they did land on his bed and there they lay now, happily satisfied for the moment.
"I'm glad you could make it," Logan said quietly, playing with strands of her hair.
"I'm glad you cut your trip short," Ace said in return and one of her hands caressed his side.
"Definitely one of my better ideas," Logan nodded. "Almost as good as it was to decide to come back to Yale early. I love that we have the whole place to ourselves."
Rory nodded. "It is nice, isn't it? Just like I imagined how it would be last year when I had the same idea for spring break."
"You did?" Logan asked, lifting an eyebrow.
"Yeah. I figured it would be deserted and wonderfully peaceful. I'd have my privacy to learn and study peacefully, undisturbed by nothing and no one," Rory answered.
"I sense a but," Logan commented.
Rory laughed. "And what a but it was. It turned out that Paris had the same idea."
"And there goes your peace," Logan laughed.
"Exactly. Plus, it was so cold like it hadn't been in a decade. And one of our roommates was going to Florida, driving all the way through," Rory told and looked up at him through her eyelashes. "It really was cold. Then, Paris started to think that she was doing this spring break thing all wrong and Terence, her life coach could only agree. And before I knew it I was in a van with Paris and two other people, driving to Florida."
"No way!" Logan exclaimed, shaking his head. His Ace on a regular spring break trip to the south? Never.
"Yes way," Rory though confirmed. "After terrible, long, and endless hours of driving we finally reached the hotel we were to stay in. Of course it was full and each and every one of the guests were students, most of them first year students like us."
"Not very surprising, it is the traditional trip for the freshmen," Logan said with a nod.
"Yeah, I guess so. Still, neither Paris nor I could really get into the right spirit. The first night we slept through. The next day, we did the tan yourself by the pool but in the evening, we stayed in and watched 'The Power of Myth'."
Logan laughed. Now that sounded more like his Ace.
"The next day though we definitely went along with the spirit. We went out to a club, not having much fun, I tried to flirt with a guy with whom I had been doing the whole 'eyes meeting briefly and look away again' routine for two days but he had lost his interest and therefore made myself look like an idiot, got kissed by Paris after which I needed to get drunk for the first time in my life and then of course couldn't resist going totally cliché and place a drunken phone call to my ex-boyfriend who was married by then, might I add. To be fair though, it had been Louise who had called him." She frowned. "Or had it been Madeline? I don't remember. Anyway, when I woke up the next day, with my first hangover ever, Paris and I decided to have experienced the whole spring break thing enough and headed back early, thank God."
For a long moment, Logan just stared at her, flabbergasted. He couldn't believe it. Even with Rory telling it herself, he couldn't believe it. God, what he would have given to see that! "You and Paris kissed?" he repeated, still stunned.
With a laugh, Rory shook her head. "Trust you to pick that out of all the things I told you. You're such a guy, Huntzberger."
"Well, I certainly hope so. And come on, you can't tell a guy that you kissed another girl, even if it was Paris, and expect him not to be turned on by that," he pointed out.
"First of all, Paris kissed me, out of the blue, so big difference, and secondly… so you're turned on?" she asked and her hand slipped lower to find out the answer herself. "Hmm, seems so. Jeez, how easy are you, exactly?"
"Easy enough to be turned on by the image of two girls kissing, apparently," he pointed out the obvious and rolled over her, the evidence of his being turned on pressing against her center. "But that's perfectly normal," he murmured after a chaste kiss. "I guarantee you, I'm classier, otherwise."
"Are you?" she asked, her voice raw.
Instead of answering, Logan just went on to prove it to her first hand.
"What's this?"
Eyes heavy with sleep, Logan squinted against the light to see what Rory was talking about. She was standing in front of his closet, holding the light blue silk morning robe he had bought for her only a week ago in her hands. He had walked by a store, had seen it and immediately had thought how great it would go with her beautiful eyes and already, he had been in the shop asking for one in her size.
"Just a morning robe. You can use it if you want," he mumbled, closing his eyes again. They barely had a couple of hours of sleep. How could Ace already be up and running around, drilling a hole into his stomach?
"And you would have a robe in your closet that's clearly for a woman, why again?" Rory asked and he was still way too sleepy to notice the steel in her voice.
Otherwise, he would not have said what he did say. "It has its uses. A lot more practical," he said with a yawn. "Just put it on if you need to. It's yours anyway."
"Oh… so am I to understand that you keep different robes for different women? Blue for me, green for that one, pink for this one and perhaps satin for yet another one?"
This time, Logan did hear the steel in her voice and he opened his eyes again to stare at her. "What?"
She was staring at the robe with an expression he couldn't quite figure out. Then she shrugged. "Just wondering how many of these you have," she said and there was something in her voice he couldn't name, but definitely didn't like.
He frowned. "Look, I just thought you'd be more comfortable if you had something to put on, should the need arise after we've landed here at my place. I do have a roommate after all and I don't want him to get a free peep show, nor do I think you'd want to give one, so I bought it for you when I saw it. That a problem? Because if it is, I can give it to my sister if you want," he explained, avoiding giving a direct answer.
A fact that didn't go unnoticed to Rory as he could tell by the slight narrowing of her eyes.
Damn.
Why was she making such a big thing out of this? It was just a silly robe after all, not some kinky playthings, not some silk satins nor anything else even remotely sexual. Just a robe. And no, he didn't have a whole closet with robes, just two more. This one was the first he had ever bought with a special girl in mind, easily seen by the plainness of the other two that were simply egg-yellow and cotton, definitely not silk. But he doubted that that would make any difference to Rory. And frankly, he wasn't ready to admit to her just how special she was to him.
She looked at the robe again for a moment and then hang it back into his closet again. "No, it's okay. Sorry. It was very thoughtful of you," she said quietly but didn't even look once at him. "I wanted to make some coffee. Want some as well?" she asked and she still didn't look at him.
Logan frowned. Damn it, how could he make this right again? Not that he was really sure what exactly was wrong. "You think there will be any left for me?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, deciding to go for the light banter they were so accustomed to.
This time she did glance back at him. Only fleetingly and her smile was weak, but it was something and already, Logan felt a bit better. "I can always make two pots," she answered nonchalantly.
"In that case, yeah, some coffee would be great," Logan nodded with a smile.
She gave a nod of her own and then left his room, grabbing his shirt from the day before on the way out and pulled it over her head.
With a sigh, Logan glared at the now closed closet. This definitely hadn't gone over too well. Not that he had had any real idea how it should have gone over. Perhaps, it would have been better to leave the robe in the bag and then formally give it to her when a good opportunity presented itself instead of just hanging it into his closet. But it had been automatic that he had done that. He glanced at the open door, biting his lips. He hoped Rory wasn't too hung up on this now. Thank God she was making coffee right now. From the way it looked, he would need it.
Thinking about it, some food could probably not hurt either. Yep, let her have some coffee and some food and hopefully, she'd feel better already. But he had seen her in the kitchen. She could make coffee, alright, but that was about it. If they wanted something to eat he'd better make it. Sighing, Logan rolled out of the bed, quickly put on some pajama buttons and went to join Rory in the little kitchenette in the common area.
By the doorway, he stopped for a moment to drink in the sight of what was in front of him though. His Ace, only clad in his shirt, leafing through the newspaper while the coffee maker was slowly brewing her very own nectar beside her. It was an intimate, homey, peaceful scene and something that was completely new to Logan – and definitely felt good, right.
And Heaven, she looked good in his shirt. Probably a lot better than she would ever look in the robe he had bought her.
Logan walked over to her, slipped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her neck, inhaling the unique scent of hers. "Morning, Ace," he whispered into her ear.
He was pleased to feel her lean against him. "Morning," she answered and raised her face up to him so he could give her a proper good morning kiss.
Holding her as close to him as he could, he leaned his forehead against hers. "I thought you'd like some breakfast as well," he told her.
"Hmm, sounds good," she answered, nodding slightly.
Giving her a light kiss, he looked hopefully at her.
She laughed and pushed him away. "Uh, uh, mister. I'm not doing anything before I've had my coffee."
He looked over to the coffee maker. "It will still take a little time," he reasoned.
"Five minutes top," Rory nodded.
"Plenty of time," Logan pointed out.
She gave him a look. "We'll never be finished within five minutes."
"I can be quick," Logan assured her, having no doubts at all about that.
With an unbelieving laugh, she turned and gave him a quick kiss. "No, you can't. So hush and go get me some bagels."
With a heavy sigh, Logan turned away from her. "Yes, Ma'am."
"Call me Ma'am again and you won't get a second breakfast either," she warned with narrowed eyes just as the coffee maker beeped to announce that the coffee was ready. Brightening up, Rory quickly grabbed herself a big cup. "See? Told you there wasn't enough time. I really don't like cold coffee first thing in the morning."
"Now come on, it would still have been warm," Logan protested and got out two bagels, sliced and pushed them into the bagel toaster.
Rory was pouring herself her coffee as she looked up at him. "But not hot and steaming, just like the first coffee in the morning should be," she corrected him and inhaling the strong aroma of the fresh brew, she proved her words by then carefully sipping the steaming coffee, black and strong and pure just like it was. Her eyes closed in bliss and she let out a deep, contented sigh.
With a laugh, Logan shook his head. "I think I can call myself lucky that coffee is not a real man of flesh and blood – well, caffeine."
Her eyes opened again to glance at him amused. "That you can. You'd have not the slightest chance in hell otherwise," she confirmed his suspicion.
"Lucky me," Logan said dryly and, the toaster giving a beep as well, turned to get the bagels. He put them onto the counter and was just turning to get cream cheese out of the small refrigerator when Rory stepped to him to put her arms around his neck and gave him a deep kiss.
"But you're not a bad second choice," she murmured, letting go of his lips.
His arms slipped more tightly around her waist as he pressed her closer against himself. "Lucky me," he repeated and dove to steal another kiss from her.
TBC!
(Author's Note: I guess one could look at this as a filler. Still, I very much enjoyed writing this one. And now, reading it through, I couldn't stop smiling. I hope that it will be the same way with you. I know the chapter is rather short, in comparison with other chapters, but frankly said, you can only write so much pillow talk and whatever more I could have written would have been just that. Pillow talk. So I thought I rather keep more sweet scenes for the chapters yet to come (Heaven knows we'll need them) and rather move on to, yep, the one and only Pulp Friction. I can't wait to tackle this one. But a fair warning: I already know it will be *long*, so you'll have to be a little patient. As you have been for a while, I know. But I was away in Spain for three weeks, with no internet access. I did have time to write a little, as you can see. There are more chapters to come, of my other stories. Thanks for all the nagging for this new chapter though – and all the many other comments you gave over the weeks. A wonderful welcome back present for me! And now, hope you enjoyed it and I got you to smile and sigh a little.)